Bnieuws 50/08 - A Change is Gonna Come (2016/17)

INDEPENDENT PERIODICAL OF THE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT TU DELFT

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Colofon

Editorial

Bnieuws Volume 50 Issue 08 06 June 2017

A CHANGE IS GONNA COME

Contact Room BG.Midden.140 Julianalaan 134 2628 BL Delft bnieuws-bk@tudelft.nl

SPEAK

Editorial Team Nadine van den Berg Lydia Giokari Ruiying Liu Noortje Weenink

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Peter Russell’s 10 Rules for Life

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Where Have All the Names Gone

Editorial Advice Edo Beerda

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In Memoriam: Herman Albers

Contributors Ola Gordowy Yafim Simanovsky Cover The Raft of Architecture

by Ola Gordowy Editorial Advice Board Robert Nottrot Pierijn van der Putt Marcello Soeleman Ivan Thung Linda van Keeken

LEARN 06

Dawn of the Scavenger Age

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Ghosts of Architecture

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Make it Yourself

Next Deadline 20th of June Bnieuws Volume 50 Issue 09 Printed by Druk. Tan Heck 1.350 copies

© All rights reserved.

Although all content is treated with great care, errors may occur.

EXPLORE 12

Artefact: Rosanne van Bladeren

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Een ketting met een blad

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Visité

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“TU Shell”

CREATE 19

Sand and Form

“It’s been a long, a long time coming, But I know a change is gonna come, Oh, yes it will.” ­— Sam Cooke, 1964 It might not seem like it, but we currently live in a world that is better than ever. Global inequality, child mortality and extreme poverty have been decreasing for decades.

Literacy and basic education have exploded. And since the postwar period, global violence has been at an ultimate low. But of course, we aren’t there yet.

Throughout history, different cultures have been hoping for a better future. Our profession undeniably makes an impact on communities, cities, and the society. And we wouldn’t be human if weren’t to improve ourselves and the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson, and later Malcom X, said: “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” But one cannot solve all problems on one’s own; collaboration is vital.

So, together, with (visiting) professors and students, and inspired by lectures, exhibitions and projects in our faculty, we take a peek into several future scenarios regarding production, design and collaboration in and of the built environment. An old African proverb proclaims that “it is the young trees that make up the forest”. So how will we create the forest presently, in order to enjoy it later?

On the occasion of Beatriz Colomina’s lecture, Lydia writes about the position of women in architecture from Modernist times until today. Our most recent addition to the team, Yafim, sat down with Pieter Stoutjesdijk to talk about his Haïti Shelter project. Are digital fabrication and mass customization our future salvation?

Ruiying asks the question “where have all the names gone?” and argues for a naming culture for the BK Community. Calcen shares with us his seaside projects, while our Dean speaks about his oyster lesson. Noortje ends with a critical note, questioning the feasibility of a sustainable future in a world where the oil industry has penetrated all layers of society, including that of the built environment and our education system.

But there is always light at the end of the tunnel. The Quran (94:5) reads: “Behold, with every hardship comes ease.” And, perhaps, we can learn from Sam Cooke and aspire to a more optimistic view.

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#Bnieuwd

Exhibition / EUROPEAN WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN This travelling exhibition shows a selection of 100 works including the most significant and representative examples of European architecture and design created by 100 women.

They are presented along a timeline of the last 100 years summarising the most important social, politic, and cultural achievements by women in their time. See also p.14.

Oostserre / from 07.06.17 – 23.06.17

#Bnieuwd

Summerschool / VAA This summer school from the Vignola Archive Architects aims to connect architectural heritage with 21st century manufacturing processes thorugh experperimental practices

Workshop / INTERACTING WITH THE FACADE This workshop seeks to critically discuss the role of façades during the operation phase of buildings, and the need to consider users’ preferences as relevant design input.

Register at a.i.prietohoces@tudelft.nl, limited seats!

Conference / EUROPEAN REAL ESTATE SOCIETY Our faculty will host the European Real Estate Society conference. The ERES annual conference is the leading real estate research meeting in Europe and one of the largest property-related conferences worldwide.

BK City / 28.06.17 – 01.07.17

Vignola, Italy / 15.07.17 – 23.07.17 / registration open until 30.06.17

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Exhibition / BUILDING ON IDEAS The exhibition Building on Ideas: Charles Correa’s Built and Un-built Housing Projects pays tribute to Charles Correa’s legacy as one of the most prominent and inspiring authorities on housing design as well as highlight the main concerns and themes that guided his work.

of women in architecture during a

Pre-sale / ARGUS EXPO 2016/2017 On the 7th of June 2017, the pre-sale event will take place revealing the new cover of the ARGUS Annual 2016 – 2017. The ARGUS Expo will be exhibited from the 4th till the

Festival / IFOT 2017 Het International Festival of Technology wordt dit jaar voor de derde keer georganiseerd. Het thema van dit jaar is ‘Boost your senses!’

Lecture / WOMEN IN ARCHITECTURE

conference via Skype.

22nd of September.

BK Expo / from 12.06.17 – 23.06.17

Delft / 07.06.17 – 09.06.17

Oostserre / 22.07.17 / 15:00

Room K / 07.06.17 / 16:30 – 20:00

Denise Scott Brown will discuss her view

A Rotor View

DAWN OF THE SCAVENGER AGE Words Ruiying Liu & Nadine van den Berg

Rotor and Deconstruction It is sometimes difficult for students shut up in studios to envision the full reality out there. The uniqueness about Rotor is not just their technical expertise, their pragmatic philosophy and their commercial success; but also the way they assert themselves as in a traditional market by drawing from diverse sources of knowledge to build a trend of change.

How would you define deconstruction and Rotor to architecture students?

When we talk about deconstruction we are not talking about an “-ism”. It’s really the literal piece by piece dismantling of a building in order to salvage the components. In German the term is “Abbau” which also literally means dismantling piece by piece. It’s construction in reverse. In English they also use term “un-building”.

Rotor is essentially a group of people that has done a series of projects together. We’ve always been engaged in the notion of reuse. We had the impression that there was a total underestimation of reuse in favour of recycling. And so we did a lot to promote reuse through the years. Initially we were interested in the reuse of industrial leftovers. And gradually we came to be more interested in leftovers from the building industries specifically. So that’s what we specialised in gradually along the years.

Visiting professors Maarten Gielen and Lionel Devlieger of Rotor are here to spread the word of deconstruction. Is it about material technology? Research framework? Social initiative? No. It is about entrepreneurship. Creating a human solution in the form of sustainable business mode, they have set themselves apart from technocrats and theorists as precursors of a new age of thinking.

There’s much inspiration in their practice for both the field of (de)construction, and a society struggling for change.

Now Bnieuws presents you highlights from the interview with Lionel.

What other materials did you work with before entering the construction market?

There’s one that is closely related to the building industry: the plywood panels that are coated with a phenol resin that are used for concrete formwork.

When you pour concrete in the formwork you built first in the concrete block, it’s made out of these panels. Now in the present day building industry, at least in Belgium and the Netherlands, these panels are good with standardised aluminium frames. After a series of uses these panels will become slightly damaged and then you can just replace the panel on the same aluminium frame. So if you go to a company

that is renting out formwork equipment to building contractors, there’s a good chance that every month you have a container full of these panels of plywood.

It’s like a steady stream that you can anticipate.

What are the current trends in the field of deconstruction?

When we look at it from our perspective, then we look back to what changed since 2005, when Rotor started.

Things changed a lot in terms of the discourse.

Nobody was talking about the circular economy 10 years ago. Everybody was still obsessed with the energy efficiency in terms of sustainability. Now, thanks to these energetic saving, we reach a point where the energy consumed in the operational phase is less than the energy needed to produce the building. So this is a point where it becomes important to start looking at the embodied energy of the building components.

This is a recent trend. When people look at that in detail, they start doing lifecycle analysis of all the components. People are more interested now than they were before in how it’s made and what it’s made from.

And politicians are encouraging the idea of a circular economy. Which would mean that, for example, if a building is taken down, you would reuse or recycle all the building components. And a new building would be made from recycled or reused goods. I would say that we are extremely far away from that right now. So there’s a huge gap between the discourses and reality.

And there’s a gigantic progress still to be made.

What are the competitions in your field?

On the one hand we are a non-profit organization that is promoting reuse. The more companies are promoting reuse the better it is. We love to see a whole network spreading out. On the other hand we realise that since nobody was doing it we had to start doing it.

We had to start establishing a company that is actually dismantling buildings and preparing for reuse, and selling them to other people. When you become a company then obviously things like competitors matter, you have to make yourself stand out and fight a little

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Parodi Bookshop Antonio Parodi contacted Rotor for his project of library called “LibreBook” in Brussels with the wish of developing the concept of an interior design using a significant amount of reused materials. Rotor developed the concept in a back-and-forth dynamic between the needs implied by such a program and the material opportunities they could find.

A project by Benjamin Lasserre, Renaud Haerlingen and Celeste Suarez with occasional help from AnneLise Bouillon, Andrea Ferreri, Maarten Gielen and Caroline De Decker.

Grindbakken The Grindbakken, a 160 meter long concrete structure–used in the past to transfer gravel and sand between ships and trucks–was about to be transformed into a multi-purpose area accessible to the public, supplied with water and electricity and painted white as an empty canvas for future activities at the docks of Ghent.

A project by Tristan Boniver, Renaud Haerlingen, Lionel Billiet, Maarten Gielen.

The Experience Reuse is way different from (the narrow sense of) recycle. Instead of reducing objects to dust in a factory and reforming them, reuse takes wit and patience. It’s like how a surgeon would picture a person in anatomical diagrams, construction scavengers probably have the tendency to see the anatomy of a building spontaneously. It takes wits and skills to be a scavenger. There’s no science about it; it’s an art.

Why the name Rotor (besides being a palindrome)?

It’s more of a logo than a name. We loved the idea of something that was rotating. But for the rest it’s mostly a name that has the advantage of not meaning too much, so that we could hang up on that a whole set of different activities.

From rotordc.come

Image on previous page: Salvaging floor tiles from Val-Benoît, Liège, 2014

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Image on next page: The Rotor collective.

against competitors. So sometimes it is bit awkward to be in two positions at the same time. But it’s the best we could do so we accept that reality.

So Rotor is not the first-and-only in deconstruction?

No. In the whole world there are businesses—reclaim dealers—salvaging and selling building components.

But the existing ones are focused on architectural antiques. This are building materials from before World War II. It’s anything that you associate with ancient architecture, like sculpted stone or iron work done by hand. This no longer works because buildings taken down today are buildings from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. They contain far more modern building materials that are generally considered to be less worthy. So there needs a re-appreciation of these components. A modification of perception.

Also, the problem that these traditional resellers of building components are facing is that they can’t get through to the huge entities that own buildings. You have to follow a crooked administrative path with many hurdles to get to the point where you can say we want to work on your demolition works and we want to salvage this and this and that. And that is typically not something that the small traditional business in the reuse of materials are doing.

At some point we decided that we had to do it, because nobody else was doing it in Brussels. And so we started on that very painful job of contacting these actors and gaining their trust. And for many of the big players—large real estate companies, it takes more than one year to set up a collaboration system. (And this is where Rotor made a breakthrough.)

What’s it like to work at Rotor?

Being active within a collective like Rotor is in itself a challenge, because you have to set your personal ambitions a bit aside sometimes. You’re working in a team and it’s the team that counts. You are also heavily dependent on your colleagues, on all levels of what we do. The advantages are that you’re not taking flack personally. You’re not bearing the whole agenda yourself. There isn’t one person solely accountable, and everyone in the company is important.

What project played a defining role in your career?

Several projects. The Venice Biennale project in 2010 for the Belgium pavilion, the OMA and RADA Exhibitions we did in 2011, and the exhibition of sustainability for the Oslo Architecture Triennale in 2013. All these exhibitions were definitely hinge moments. They fed us tremendously as designers, but also as researchers. It allowed us to position ourselves internationally. And from there on we knew exactly what we wanted to do. We had no complexes anymore.

For instance, we didn’t dare to talk about ourselves as people realising sustainable architecture before 2013.

Then we did a huge inquiry on sustainable architecture and we realised that so many people are claiming sustainability in their projects on very lose grounds,

with flimsy arguments. And then we thought that we might as well start working on something sustainable.

To end that whole series, the next big project was when we started in 2014 with Rotor Deconstruction.

This was the first one we decided to set up ourselves.

Rotor Deconstruction is a project that many people within Rotor are working on. It’s a collective effort and all attention is focused on that project. You concentrate intelligence on one problem and you hope something is going to come out of it.

What tools or skills did you have to acquire to do the work that you’re doing?

We do four kinds of work at Rotor: research consultancy work; communicating with broader public through publications and exhibitions; design work; deconstruction work. Each of these have different tools. Sometimes we use pre-existing tools like SketchUp, Wikipedia or our own library. But at other moments we develop our own tools.

An important part of what we do is making inventories of potentially reusable components in buildings that need to be deconstructed. If there is a building that is going to be taken down or heavily renovated, you scan the building for anything that might come into consideration for reuse later. You need a methodology to do that and we developed a software. It runs on a tablet and with it you can very quickly go through the building like a surveyor. Take a picture of the element in question, make a brief description and then you can move on. Essentially it’s a personalised and optimised file maker application that we designed ourselves.

Because every dismantling operation is a huge investment, and labour is super expensive, so you need to know very well what is worth dismantling. And with this tool we can accumulate knowledge about important materials. It’s very difficult to set up an algorithm that will decide for you. It’s not a science, it’s an art. It’s something you can learn, but it takes a lot of experiences and failures to master the art.

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The People Who Made It Happen Maarten looks a laidback, energetic field guy. Already at the age of 15, he was selling decorative items made from objects found at scrap merchants and flea markets to fashion stores and florists*. In comparison, Lionel is more of an office guy (and research expert).

As he revealed earlier, the strength of Rotor in its field comes from on one hand, its technical expertise, and on the other, its ability to navigate through complicated administrative waters and access the big players. Now having met them in person, we realise it’s a perfect game for partners like this.

Did you first start as an architect?

Yes, I was a student in Architecture and I did a two-year internship. But after that I went back to university and I did a PhD in architecture history.

How is life/work now compared to that of a traditional architect?

The nice thing is that there’s no routine at all. It’s very creative job on many different levels. Sometimes it’s being creative with legislation; so trying to redesign the law and the regulations on building materials.

Sometimes it’s your research and writing skills that

you need to expand. Sometimes we research the history of demolition, or do research on interesting historical examples of reusable building systems.

Sometimes it’s just design work and communicating with the client about their demands. And sometimes while you’re building, you adapt the design, because you think this would be better. That is really enjoyable.

Sometimes we’re involved in art projects, which is a completely different field, which is very exciting. So no, I never regretted not doing proper architecture.

Their Philosophy Maarten’s previous lecture in the Orange Hall sent out some very inspiring messages. First, we are not mercenaries that solve technical problems of others’ projects. In fact, the dogma of project- based thinking needs a shakeup if we want to make construction and architecture truly sustainable. Secondly, deconstruction is not, and should not, become a rigid “school” of practice: no “-ism” attached. It is about a “delicate way of thinking”: instead of running around with bulldozers or industrial re-materialisation, we need to apply the good-old human intelligence to reuse challenges. Now, Lionel expands the scope to encompass the societal existence—

So what inspiration did you find, “travelling” through history?

There is one that inspires us enormously. It is from Japan of the Edo Period, between the 17th and 19th century. The country had completely insulated itself from the rest of the world. This means a closed economy, so you had to be extremely careful with how you manage the resources. It’s often used as an example for circular economy. The government was issuing series of regulations of natural recourse conservation. This is also the era in which the Tatami module was invented, which is an extremely efficient way of using natural resources. As modules, the sliding doors and windows of rice paper can be standardly produced. And if such a sliding door was damaged, it could be repaired over and over again by gluing patches of paper on the existing rice paper. If it was damaged beyond repair you could just replace it. For us that is a great example.

But we realise that this is only made possible by a strong, centralised power that has the capacity of imposing these regulations, which would never work for liberalised economies. Still, there are interesting lessons to be learned from this example.

So what’s the role of government in this?

(Resource management through legislation) and to impede the waste of the materials and resources in general. In many societies in history you had something called sumptuary laws. For instance, in Venice the gondola’s were traditionally heavily decorated. At some point the government said that this was a waste of resources, because everybody tried to have bigger and more beautiful boats than others.

They were investing too many resources in making these boats, but it’s not helping the economy; and it’s not helping anybody individually—just showing off. At some point society has to decide whether it wants to spend all that money like this, which could maybe be spent more efficiently. So the boats were changed to one type and they were all painted black. Now these boats are celebrated as a symbol, but they only exist

because at some point somebody said “this is enough”.

What book or movie do you like most?

[Very long pause …]

—Or what is the book you would read if you suddenly had a two-month holiday?

I think that would be The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber. It’s a book about roots of capitalism in Protestantism. That is definitely a book I would love to read. Otherwise it would be The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen. I’ve read portions of it, but I still have to finish it. He initiated the notion of conspicuous consumption.

So the Venetian boats I was talking about? People decorated them only to show off their wealth. Like in fancy restaurants, people who order expensive bottles of champagne. Waiters from the bar put sparkles in them and bring it very ceremoniously to the table. The only purpose of that is that everybody sees that these guys or these women can afford it, which usually costs something like 150 euros. And it might end up with them not being able to drink the whole bottle, but the purpose of it was to show off. And Thorstein Veblen was the first to theorise that notion.

Editor’s Notes Material reuse is not a fresh idea; and circular economy is no modern invention. The challenge is two-fold: first to find value and invent techniques for new materials, seconde to engage large-scale corporations and government bodies to get the material flowing again. We can wait for technology from within the industry, and encourage community initiatives—or we can apply the scavenger intelligence ourselves: solving problems with constant innovation.

The life of a scavenger is filled with fruitful partnerships, challenges and ingenuity. And it’s not just about survival as individual entrepreneurs, but also a determination to bring changes: on the profession, the environment, and societal values.

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Artefact

EEN KETTING MET EEN BLAD Door Rosanne van Bladeren

Van kleins af aan ben ik opgevoed met creativiteit in allerlei vormen. Zelf dingen maken, maar ook naar musea gaan om kunst te bekijken. In het weekend was ik altijd dingen aan het maken; aan het knutselen, schilderen of op de naaimachine bezig en vooral met veel kleur.

Na mijn middelbare school ben ik rechten gaan studeren. Hoe ik daarbij terecht gekomen ben heb ik mij later wel eens afgevraagd. Interessant vond ik het gelukkig wel, maar ik merkte dat ik teveel met mijn hoofd bezig was. Ik wilde dus meer met mijn handen gaan doen en zo kwam ik erachter dat ik van de combinatie werken met mijn hoofd en thuis een hobby waarbij ik creatief bezig ben een veel ontspannener mens word. Toen ben ik begonnen met edelsmeden.

Daarom heb ik gekozen voor een eigengemaakt sieraad als mijn artefact. Deze ketting omvat heel veel voor mij: zilver, kleur, zelfgemaakt en natuurlijk mijn achternaam als ideale inspiratiebron. Deze ketting was een van de eerste sieraden die ik zelf gemaakt heb en nog steeds is het een van mijn favorieten.

Het maken van deze ketting heeft niet alleen mij, maar ook degene bij wie ik een cursus edelsmeden deed, uitgedaagd. Ik had weer eens van alles bedacht wat niet zo een, twee, drie te realiseren valt. Vooral het gekleurde blad wat ik graag wilde, maakte het moeilijk.

Uiteindelijk heb ik gekozen voor 2 componenten lijm en die gekleurd met verschillende pigmenten. De groen gemaakte lijm heb ik uitgegoten over een glasplaat en toen ben ik met naalden met pigment erop in de lijm gaan spelen, een heerlijk priegelwerkje. Uit het hele vlak opgedroogde lijm heb ik toen dit stukje gekozen, met allemaal rare dingetjes erin; bubbeltjes, stippeltjes en andere oneffenheden. Samen met het gehamerde zilver moest dit stukje mijn blad afmaken, en dat is gelukt. Nog steeds ben ik ontzettend blij met eindresultaat. Het wordt de hoogste tijd dat ik hem weer eens om doe!

Voor de volgende Artefact wil ik Peter Russell nomineren.

< Afmetingen: Ă&#x2DC;= 37 mm

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Food for Thought

GHOSTS OF ARCHITECTURE Words & Images Lydia Giokari

On a sunny evening last month, the Spanish architectural historian and theorist Beatriz Colomina gave an intriguing lecture in the Orange Hall. The lecture was on partnerships between architects that were also intimate and resulted in some of the most significant projects of Modern Architecture. During the lecture the focus was shifted towards the uncredited heroes of these significant projects; Women the ghosts of Modern Architecture. On the occasion of this lecture, the numerous initiatives and events scheduled in June, this article will try to cast some light to this still relevant phenomenon of “forgotten” women in architecture.

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Damnatio memoriae or in oblivion, was an action of dishonor in ancient Rome that the Roman Senate passed on traitors or others who brought discredit to the Roman State. It erased every trace of the person from the life of Rome, as if she or he had never existed1.

In a similar way, the treatment of women in the history of architecture of the post-war era, resulted on them to consist the ghosts of Modern Architecture. Quoting Beatriz Colomina’s words, they were “everywhere present, crucial, but strangely invisible”. Their names were not referenced in publications or exhibition catalogues and everyone acted as if they were never part of their own monuments. Their existence remained a mystery that stayed unresolved for a long time. Beatriz Colomina was one of the historians that tried to

The Orange Hall was filled by curious students who wanted to discover the secrets of Modern Architecture.

demystify their role and bring women’s contribution in architecture of the post-war era into the spotlight. Her effort was not an action to save women architects from obscurity or an attempt for historical accuracy by filling the gaps as just simple meritocracy. It was not a question of adding a lot or a few names to the records, but a way to look upon architecture under scrutiny, in order to fully understand the complex ways of its production.

The Secret Life of Modern Architecture Colomina got engaged to the research on the position of women architects in modern history while being occupied with the theme of collaborations in post-war architecture during the late 1990s. In her effort to discover all the parts involved in the process of architectural creation, she came across intimate partnerships. In her lecture in the Orange Hall, she focused on those partners-architects that not only were couples at work but also at home; stories from the domestic life of architecture2 that were kept carefully guarded secrets for a long time.

The Ghosts of Modern Architecture According to Colomina despite the fact that partners had equal contribution on the architectural projects,

women’s role received little or even no recognition by historians and critics. But they were not the only ones who overlooked women. Sometimes, even their “other half” did not credit them. Paradoxically, this was commonly known between practicing architects of the time, but remained the dirty little secret that no one talked about3. As a consequence, these unacknowledged women “haunted the field forever”.

Couplings To give an overview of these couplings, Colomina referred to some of the most famous ones: Ray & Charles Eames, Alison & Peter Smithson, Lilly Reich & Mies van der Rohe, Anne Tyng & Louis Kahn. In the case of the first two couples, Ray and Alison faced discrimination from historians and critics, who ignored their work consistently. On the other hand, Mies and Louis wanted to appear as the heroic “genius” of their projects, and thus overshadowed their partners. But those are only few names taken out from a long list that still continues to grow bigger.

Why Architecture Still “Cheats” on Women It is sad that in 2017 women are still underrepresented in architecture, especially in its history. Although things have been improved in comparison with the

< Beatriz Colomina speaks on the ghosts of women of modern architecture.

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1950s, while histories of women are now increasingly available, there is a long way to go for them to become readily visible. There is a gap between these histories and their wider dissemination. Books and articles alone have not been effective enough to create what we call a collective memory that will recognize women architects. The promotion of knowledge interrelated with women architects is still lagging behind, while there is ongoing invisibility of their accomplishments.

Their work is rarely exhibited in major museums: example of this is the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., that has never devoted a show to a woman architect4. As for the Netherlands, the archives in the State Archive for Dutch Architecture and Urban Planning, have only 15 out of 650 architects who are women5.

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On a bigger scale, the scarcity of entries in one of the most visited websites in the world, free online encyclopedia Wikipedia, is a particularly warning sign and illustrates the urgency for change. Afterall, the more broadly known the rich history of women in architecture will get, the harder it will be to ignore them in Universities, museums, offices or on prize juries. Architecture should stop cheating on women and we can intervene to ensure it.

honor which recognizes women who promote innovation, diversity, and inclusiveness in the field6.

Conclusions We are in need of actions like these to support all the students and professional women in architecture who continue to face discrimination and bias based on gender alone. We should finally put an end on underestimation, underrepresentation, invisibility and dismissal based on sex. It’s time for consciousness, inclusiveness, support, fair treatment and acknowledgement of women’s ideas, contribution and work.

It’s hard to take the step towards equity for all. We should be aware and keep in mind that bias is still present and we should all together–men and women, students, academics, professors and staff–fight against it. Fortunately, there are a lot of initiatives, events and organizations around us. Even in the TU there are the TU Delft Feminists for instance, that address this crucial issue and invite people to discuss, debate and take action. Rather small actions can have huge impact and open up the way for changes in the discipline and professional practice. Let’s get rid of the ghosts!

The sources for this article can be found on the online

Un-forgetting Women Architects In this direction, the initiative “Unforgetting Women Architects” scheduled on the 8th of June at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, invites all those who want to change this situation to an open writing afternoon to add female architects to Wikipedia.

pages 36-37: Issuu.com/bnieuws You can watch Beatriz Colomina’s lecture online: theberlage.nl/events/details/2017_05_18_the_century_ of_the_bed.

If you want to know more about the events: tudelft.nl/en/events/2017/bk/exhibition-europeanwomen-in-architecture-and-design,

Simultaneously, starting from the 7th till the 23rd of June, the Orange Hall will host the travelling exhibition “European Women in Architecture and Design: 1918-2018”. The exhibition will present a selection of 100 works created by 100 women from the end of the First World War until today. On the 22nd of June, Denise Scott Brown will give a lecture via Skype on her view of the position of women in architecture.

Brown is the winner of this year’s Jane Drew Prize–an

collectie.hetnieuweinstituut.nl/en/activities/ unforgetting-women-architects and momowo.eu.

< Some of the women architects that were overlooked despite their significance. From left to right: Marion Mahony Griffin, Anne Tyng, Alison Smithson, Lilly Reich, Charlotte Perriand, Eileen Gray, Ray Eames, Jane Drew, Natalie de Blois, Jane Jacobs, Denise Scott Brown.

The last square is dedicated to all of the obscure women that were never credited for their work and contribution.

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The Rules

Comparing Notes

PETER RUSSELL’S 10 RULES FOR LIFE

SAND AND FORM

Words Peter Russell

Words Calcen Chan & Ruiying Liu Images Calcen Chan

As a dean, I have had the privilege to give speeches to freshly graduated students, in Delft and elsewhere. Young people who are about to start their careers. In the end, these talks come down to a few nuggets of information. I have pared these down to ten rules and will share them with you in Bnieuws over the coming months.

Winds from seven seas are slowly lifting the fatigue brewed over the winter— which seemed a lifetime long. Projects are finished, displayed, and marvelled at.

I was walking among the jungle of poster panels in the Expo Hall, pretending to be strolling on a beach for a mental escape. There I was stopped by an image of crystal forms smartly embedded in the gentle curves of sand dunes. So this is what the hardware expert Calcen from @Hok has done for his graduation thesis: morphogenesis by way of the invisible forces.

Rule #8: Order what you want as opposed to what is on the menu.

Another Story: A group goes to dinner at a restaurant (it was Graz – there are witnesses) with about 20 people. The waiter explains they have four dishes: trout, salmon, lamb and beef. As he goes around the table, each guest indicates which of the four options he or she wants. They get to me. I ask, “Do you have any oysters?” The waiter says “Yes!”. So, I ordered a dozen oysters and a green salad. The person next to me pipes up (somewhat upset), “He didn’t say anything about oysters!” To that I replied, “I ordered what I want, not what is on the menu!” Almost everyone ended up ordering oysters that evening!

To tell the truth, as we made our way into the restaurant I spied a barrel off to the side full of empty oyster shells so I had a pretty good idea my request would be met. That is not the point though. Ordering what you want is about taking charge. Good restaurants (or good chefs) delight in a challenge. In the wider scope, though, this is not about food—it is about saying what it is you want clearly and precisely. Sometimes that will not be on anyone’s menu, but if you do not articulate that, you definitely will not get it.

And getting what you want is not a given either—we usually do not get what we want.

What we get is sometimes what we need or better for us, so let’s not all stamp feet and bang on the table to get what we want—but sometimes it is simply a question of asking the question—and sometimes, yes, there ARE oysters!

Thanks to the Dean for drawing 82 oysters.

I am forever walking upon these shores / Betwixt the sand and the foam / The high tide will erase my footprints / And the wind will blow away the foam / But the sea and the shore will remain / Forever.

—Khalil Gibran, Sand and Foam, 1926 19

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MAKE IT YOURSELF Words Yafim Simanovsky

Calcen’s project: Aeolian Symbiosis Aeolian, from Aeolus, Greek God of Wind.

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When I say “Aeolian”, what goes through your mind?

What about “dunes”? Sand, beach, wind, and waves?

Imagine the sand beneath your feet, the salty spray in your face and the smell of the sea. All these would not be possible without a very dominant force—wind. It plays a big role in the coastal areas. Its invisible movement and dynamics intrigue me immensely.

Stemming from the Architectural Engineering studio is the question of how to approach coastal building other than the standardized stilt house, which is disconnected from the environment. My project proposes to combine coastal buildings with dunes: on one hand, to add resilience to the dunes, on the other, to create unique spaces for development, activities and experiences—in other words, a true symbiotic relationship between architecture and nature.

In my design, the exterior is a sharp-edged form, while the interior follows the undulating curves of the dunes. From an architectural psychology point of view, the sharp element arouses curiosity and provokes reflection with its alien contrast against the organic environment. But more than that, the form of my design is complementary to the dune’s growth. The older dunes, further away from the seas need constant supplement of sands. The wind transporting the sand supply is often hindered by the younger frontal dunes (the foredunes). One solution was to create gaps in the foredunes, called blowouts, to allow easier access for

the sands to reach the old dunes. I propose a different solution that is less destructive to the dunes by creating the Venturi Effect with the correct forms.

Although it comes down to a simple idea, it is based on massive amount of research. My aeolianmorphogenesis approach to coastal buildings has never been attempted in BK or maybe even the profession. I could barely find anyone within the faculty who had enough knowledge to inform me on the content. But after the disheartening struggle of my journey, I now find myself among the very few that have deeply delved into this topic.

Ruiying’s Notes In his Design with Nature, Ian MacHarg applauded the Dutch dunescape as an exemplar of landscape stewardship. What I will always appreciate in his work is the clarity and vision he worked with when applying quantitative method to complex natural conditions. He does not wield the banner of complexity theories, but he knows the reach of analytical thinking and never reduced landscape to clockwork systems: The real art of reconciling nature and human construction lies in asserting scientific tools in the links of invisible natural processes. It is neither pure engineering nor blown-away

Images Pieter Stoutjesdijk

In the last few years Pieter Stoutjesdijk has been developing a 1:1 prototype of a CNC (a computer controlled method for digitally fabricating components) milled house for post-disaster shelters in Haiti, which is now displayed in the Orange Hall until summer. What are the benefits and innovations of new technologies such as digital fabrication and mass customization? Bnieuws sat down with Pieter for his insights about inspiration for students and the future of architectural entrepreneurship.

Can you introduce the Haiti shelter project and tell us how the motivation for the idea was born?

It started as my graduation project in Explore Lab. After an exchange semester at MIT I was already inspired by digital fabrication, and not just for the aesthetical effects. I wanted to use technologies of digital fabrication to solve world problems and not to create ‘blob’ shapes that show what is possible. I was interested in a more pragmatic approach. MIT was really inspiring because of professors like Larry Sass. He came up quite a few years ago with the idea of using digital fabrication to create friction-fit connections and 3D puzzles that people can assemble by themselves. I wanted to combine this with disaster shelters. The role of the architect is changing a lot. Back when the crisis hit, people often said that architects can find another job because they are “not needed”. I really wanted to show we can use our creative power for these increasing world-wide problems. So I wanted to combine my passion for digital fabrication with this really urgent need in the world.

poetics, but both, balanced by a sincere pursuit for dynamic harmony. I imagine he would have liked Calcen’s project as I do.

We hope you like this new type of article, Comparing Notes, and share your discussions with friends/

“THE GREAT THING IS THAT IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA, YOU CAN DIRECTLY SEND IT TO THE LASER CUTTER AND IN THE SAME DAY GET FEEDBACK.”

colleagues with us!

Diagrams (left to right): Distance between the two buidlings; angle of inner facade to wind direction; Sampling areas for wind speeds calculations; probes in wind tunnel for erosion rates measurement.

Images: rendering of final design (previous page); physical model.

Did the MIT experience help to guide the project?

Before going there I wasn’t very aware of the potential of what we now call the “New Industrial Revolution”, a term which actually evolved at MIT. I saw the potential of mass customization, people building their own homes, global sharing of knowledge and local production.

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Did the experience at MIT help narrow down a specific approach?

Actually it widened the approach, because also at the Explore Lab you can really investigate your research topic. Mine was the “New Industrial Revolution”, which is very broad. I discovered that I wanted to create an extreme design with basic ingredients made from 100% waste. Back then you saw a trend of things like the “IKEA shelter” which would be designed exactly the same at the North Pole or in Syria, which is crazy if you look at architecture… I wanted to take a very strong standpoint and despite these challenging requirements to create something that is aesthetically appealing and related to people’s context and history.

Was your project unique or did you notice any similar things being done around the Faculty?

Quite unique actually. What was interesting is right before my P4 the WikiHouse experiment came online and I thought “oh God, they invented everything that I was thinking about, I’d better redo my whole graduation project.” As WikiHouse became popular I saw it as a great potential and discussed it with my tutors. So there were tendencies outside the Faculty to use digital fabrication for the poor for example, but not so much within the Faculty.

Was the desire for a 1:1 prototype there from the start?

I made lots of models at 1:10 scale with the laser cutter. It was very helpful because very often when something works on paper it doesn’t work in reality.

And you only discover that when you get your hands dirty. But back then I could only use the CNC machines here in the model hall which was useful, however it was quite small and time consuming. I learned a lot but in the end I made a 1:1 fragment of the whole building.

The Haiti Shelter CNC prototype

Do you have your own CNC machine now?

Yes. After my graduation, I discovered that if you buy these CNC machines second-hand they are quite affordable and I just decided to buy one. I was kind of

bankrupt when I bought the machine so I had no money to rent space. EcoBoards, the company whose materials I was using for my graduation project said, “You can place it in our factory, we have some space left.” To make a living, I thought we could make furniture and simple things, then with the profit we can develop the process further. So Fabrikoos was born, a kind of furniture branch of our company. Then my aunt needed a house, so she asked if I could alter the design a bit and put it in her backyard. That house became a research project on how to use the same principles for a building system in the Netherlands. We learned a lot, but the Haiti project was shifting to the background. The situation in Haiti had become less urgent. So I thought maybe we should first focus on the western world, refine the production process, and direct the profit to the developing world. Of course if you’re creating shelters for the poorest people you cannot profit on that; it’s immoral.

Let’s go back to the Haiti Shelter itself. Can you describe the main technical features and materials?

Basically the most interesting thing is that you use one machine, which is a very high-end CNC machine, and one type of material which in this case is made from 100% agricultural waste and one digital file in which you see the whole model 1:1 but also all the production knowledge. So with a press of a button you can send this file to the CNC machine, place the material there, and then you have an assembly kit with all the connections integrated and ready for transport.

On the builder side, future inhabitants can assemble their own home. I think the process is even more interesting than the product.

To what extent do you think tools such as CNC milling can help students improve their design?

Having the tools to build your design directly from your own file without other companies or parties involved is really powerful. As an architect, your influence on the end result is greatly enhanced. In Architectural Engineering Studio we have a sub-studio which is called Makeups where lots of students are

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using this potential of creating prototypes within their own design process. The great thing is that if you have an idea, you can directly send it to the laser cutter and get feedback the same day. The speed of development of your design and your product is enhanced by using digital fabrication.

Is this kind of academic experimentation more available now than it was a few years ago?

Yes, definitely! When I was studying it was mostly available in the niche approach of Hyperbody, and now you see lots of different studios using it in a more hybrid way alongside more classical technologies.

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Since the theme of this month’s issue is “A Change is Gonna Come”, looking at the megatrends in architecture right now, where do you think all of this is going?

I really hope it’s shifting to more customized architecture. In the 1950s we saw standardization of mass housing, but now you see experiments like SuperLofts where you only build the basic framework and people can completely reinvent their own interiors. People can connect with products if they are custom made for them. And I believe that architecture should be something that is completely custom to a specific situation, client or climate. The standardization and automation experiments of the 1950s failed in a way.

Architecture can never be an automated mass product because it has a very local root. There lies the greatest potential of digital fabrication. I hope it doesn’t lead to monopolization where only IKEA and Google will make future homes. It could be that you have global sharing of knowledge, but local production. 3D printing and CNC milling machines are becoming more affordable, and because of such powerful tools they can suddenly compete with very large contractors.

So for example a collective of three architects can compete with a company that has hundreds or thousands of people.

That’s quite a division between either a dystopic or utopic world isn’t it?

That’s also why I think it’s really important that students take notice of these tendencies and that the university provide the opportunity and educate them. I really feel that the building industry will be disrupted in the coming decade, and the price of a home is not just cut by 10% but by 90%. Something like that is about to happen.

The 1:1 prototype is currently displayed at the Faculty.

In terms of entrepreneurship, what is the relation between university and professional work?

When I graduated here I discovered that all the knowledge and practical skills you need as an entrepreneur are completely untouched during studies.

This is a pity because there a lots of students who are really willing—see places like Yes!Delft. I think we should have a course on entrepreneurship within the department. If you look at other universities like MIT, you see that when people study architecture they take courses from other departments. Here you hardly see that, so I think something is lacking in TU Delft as a rule in that sense.

faculty, because today the jobs you can get as an architect are quite low-paid and often boring. So people themselves automatically look for alternatives. University isn’t like a startup; I think they should give professors way more resources and freedom to come with these alternative ways of teaching.

What would you advise students who want to tap into the opportunities in this area?

Really find a project that is coming from your own aspirations and from within you; who you are as a person, and who you want to be. In this department we have lots of different studios. It’s great of course if your ambition is to become an architect within a larger company. But if your ambition is to become a more entrepreneurial architect, or start your own company, or to work on these really innovative techniques, then really try to define your own project. If you are not passionate about something, you will never become good at it. Especially in the field of architecture passion is really a necessity. Try to find out what you’re passionate about.

Find out more about Pieter Stoutjesdijk’s project and company at www.thenewmakers.nl

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In this business approach do you find yourself in a way “losing control of the ship” to external actors?

It’s hard to find the right balance, because of course lots of people come to you and ask “Can you do this for me?” And then it’s profitable. The challenge is not to always say yes, because then you grow far from your original ambition. So that’s a reason we should teach some entrepreneurship courses because that process has a lot of similarities with the design process. Both have extreme complexity, great uncertainty, and lots of different actors involved; it’s very multi-disciplinary.

Architects who are good in designing can potentially be good entrepreneurs.

Do universities have an important role to play in pushing student-led innovations?

I think the ambition of learning entrepreneurship comes from students themselves or from outside the

Friction-fit connections

Speak

WHERE HAVE ALL THE NAMES GONE Words Ruiying Liu

Often is the Dutch culture here seen as technical and lacking in poetics. But maybe it’s just a TU thing. The tulip marketing talents at Keukenhof sure challenge this view. Each name magically captures the essential characteristics of that variety. To think how traditional communities also name their places in a way that cultivate affection and identity, I find a strange void in our modern university.

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Names of Plants For me, all the photo-genic scenes combined in Keukenhof cannot replace the ingenious names of the tulips. After two weeks, the most vivid recollection of my visit there is the fun in interpreting the names. The dark purple tulip, small, round and glossy, is named ‘Black Hero’ after that energetic and indomitable stereotype. ‘Top Gun’, with its bright flaring character does live up to the proud image. Pointy-petalled ‘Fly Away’ looks like a flock of flamingos taking to the air.

‘Katie Melua’ has petite flowers with fine pinkish fringes. Standing in contrast is ‘Julius Caesar’, with its hyperbolic large flower of blatant red petals and recalcitrant leaves … Every name is like a miniature poem—couple of words that wakes up the viewer’s imagination. The flowers become more than ornamental shapes and colours. The palpable essence beneath the surface of looks is almost like a soul. No doubt it’s the result of professional marketing. Still, in my view, the art of naming tulips makes the flower

more than just a commercial industry and worthy of a national culture.

Ever since I studied plant taxonomy as a student of landscape architecture, I acquired a passion for names and characteristics. The name is like a riddle to be solved; or a hidden clue to the plant’s true nature. I remember the rich and pure blossom of Paulownia fortunei, named after some princess of a distant land (Paulona of the Netherlands, actually). Rubus caesius has white flowers and nothing grey-ish blue (caesius) about it, until it gets its autumn fruits. The English names, “apple” and “crab apple” reveal a kinship between the two species that is completely hidden in the Chinese language.

Meaningful names are a conduit to the essence—the truly digestible nutrients for the mind. So what about our environment? Does it enjoy the same attention to naming as we give plants?

Names of Places It is not spaces which ground identifications, but places. How then does space become place? By being named.1 The geographer Tuan Yi-Fu also says: place is not just material construction; speech is a component of the total force that transforms nature into a human place.2 The study of names of places is toponymy. A toponym acts as a cognitive symbol of places. Apt toponyms propagate the image of places through their presence in speech and mental processes.

There are two kinds of names. One is the functional kind, purely symbolic, like “Lecture Room A” and “the Modelling Hall”. (Do the last two even deserve capitalisation?) The other one is the meaningful kind, representing a place-bound cultural tissue, like “BK Street”. The name BK itself is a case where the functional name Bouwkunde becomes something more than just literal meaning to represent a cultural group.

When a place has no meaningful name, its identity is implicit. Held by individual minds, it is amorphous and transient. The process of naming is an important aspect of social construction of place. By discussing and debating to settle a unanimously accepted name, different groups find out what they are as a whole. Like at Bnieuws, for every issue editors together find out a meta-narrative for all the articles, resulting in a name that makes the issue a unique whole.

The society is quite aware of the importance of toponyms. The UN has a branch called UNGEGN (United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names). Rotterdam has a committee on street naming, and a very comprehensive online database.3 The themes of street names along River Rotte have curious

pattern that clearly indicates intentional planning. One area is a mixture of molen (“windmill”) and zwaan (“swan”, from the old toponym). One area near the Crooswijk Cemetery has names like paradijs and rust (“paradise” and “rest”). Another area is named after great people like Rembrandt and Erasmus. They make a lot of sense even to a foreigner. But those named after 19th–20th century celebrities probably have lost their meaning—most of the local residents being of immigrant descent. Similarly in Schiedam, a whole series of streets are named after nationalities: Russischestraat, Engelsestraat, Roemeensestraat, etc.; whereas the area is mostly occupied by people of Middle East descent. How does it feel to live in a place where you cannot appropriate the names associated with you? It’s a similar question faced by aboriginal people when colonists renamed the land with their language and values. With two different systems in conflict, the dual-name resulting from that is dubbed “duel-name”.4 By comparison, traditional toponyms are often quite engaging because they are linked to past lives. Once you know their meaning, they become cues that evoke vivid historical imagination. For example, Koepoort, one of the eight gate-ports of Old Delft owes its name to the cows herded into the city everyday (guess where the markets are!). The name remains with the bridge, Koepoortbrug.5 Schoolpoort, now living on within Schoolstraat, is named after the Latin School nearby at the time.6 The place still has a cloister-ish air.

Where are the names of our culture?

I looked around our study environment and trie to find some names of attachment or stories. There are a lot of abbreviations to go around (A Dutch penchant?).

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Rogier & Tiemen Previous page, left to right: Tulip ‘Black Hero’, ‘Top Gun’, ‘Fly Away’, ‘Katie Melua’ and ‘Julius Caesar’ by author Paulownia fortunei by Coralie Mercier@ flikr Crabapple by George Thomas@flickr Apple by DataHamster@flickr

VISITÉ

Left: Pattern of Street Names Along River Rotte by Ruiying Liu & Kseniya Otmakhova Bottom, left to right: Apenrots—kids love it The Ochestra—the hall is an orchestra; every model is the music of an idea Sunset Ave.—turned into a bakehouse every afternoon owing to its westfacing position The Beast and the Carrot—the eternal pursuit of ... knowledge Images by author.

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Unfortunately, abbr. just don’t add any meaning to the original words. Does “LeRA” (Lecture Room A) add anything to the identity of the place? The few culturally meaningful names include the orange hall being called Apenrots (“monkey rock”). Others belong to student associations. Stylos members call their HQ het hok (merrily associative with animal enclosures). The Delftsch Studenten Corps refers to their place as de zaak (when you say “ik ga naar de zaak” you disguise your social activities as going about work). Known only to insiders, these names are more like code names instead of public bonds to places. For the public in BK, the most salient names used to refer to places are names of departments, and commercial brands like Starbucks, Sterk, and Ketelhuis.

locations? If there is a culture of BK, where is it in the words we use to talk about the habitat of this culture?

Compared to the traditional toponymic culture, the rapid rotation and high mobility of modern life seem to impede a continuity of bottom-up culture. Another obstacle is of course the language: there is a considerable restraint on the depth of cultural reasoning in a second language. These are the special challenges for us to overcome to cultivate a placebound identity as an international community.

Imagine: what would you tell outsiders—prospective students or colleague—of BK City and our TU, if you only have ten words to say it?

Sources can be found on the online pages 36–37:

If BK is a city, why doesn’t it have more names of

Robert Nottrot (1952) is head of the Explore Lab graduation studio since its foundation in 2005.

issuu.com/bnieuws

Lego Four years ago Robert and his wife moved to this loft, which doubles as atelier. The art, scattered through the space, is an assemblage

Apenrots

The Orchestra

Sunset Ave.

Beast & the Carrot

of acquired pieces and own work.

Without a fixed plan, Robert built the white tower with left-over lego from the faculty in only three days.

Ever dreamt of moving? “To the mediterranean, Italy or Greece, but I am good where I am.”

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IN MEMORIAM: HERMAN ALBERS Tekst Gerrie Hobbelman

Onlangs bereikte ons het bericht dat Herman Albers is overleden.

Hij werd 85 jaar.

Herman Albers heeft 36 jaar bij de faculteit Bouwkunde gewerkt, tot november 1991. Dat is inmiddels 26 jaar geleden dus er zullen niet veel mensen meer zijn op Bouwkunde, die zich hem herinneren. Toch was hij een markante persoonlijkheid op de faculteit, die iedereen kende door zijn functie als beheerder visuele middelen. Dat waren er in die tijd hele andere dan nu; de laptop bestond nog niet, evenals de smartphone. De PC was er nog maar net, met maar liefst 20 Mb geheugen.

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Herman beheerde audio-visuele apparatuur bij colleges. Dat waren dia- en overheadprojectoren. Meer was er niet in die tijd, behalve het schoolbord. Herman had het beheer over zaal A, de grootste collegezaal van het gebouw voor Bouwkunde aan de Berlageweg.

Op de rouwadvertentie staat onderaan de tekst: “Herman, mag het ietsje scherper?” Dat was een veel gestelde vraag in zaal A als een collegegever vond dat de dia’s niet scherp genoeg werden geprojecteerd. Auto-focus bestond nog niet, alles ging met de hand. Hij was aanwezig bij afstudeerzittingen en alle studenten uit die jaren herinneren zich Herman als een zorgzame vader die hen wegwijs maakte met de apparatuur, vertelde dat de dia’s ondersteboven in de slee moesten en hen moed insprak voor hun presentatie. Bij vergaderingen van de faculteitsraad verzorgde hij de geluidsapparatuur en de bandopname (MP3 bestond nog niet).

Door zijn aanwezigheid bij al die evenementen was Herman de best geïnformeerde man van de faculteit. Hij kon buitengewoon goed omgaan met iedereen in de faculteit, waarbij hij de mensen aansprak met respectievelijk dag baas, dag dame of dag maatje afhankelijk van de status van de persoon binnen de faculteit. Herman was de bedenker en grote gangmaker van regelmatige bijeenkomsten waarbij tijdens het lunchuurtje op vrijdag een film werd gedraaid of een konsert werd gegeven. De huidige spellingscheckers weigeren het wordt konsert te accepteren, maar zo werd het in die tijd geschreven. Een uur film en konsert werd samengetrokken tot Konfiluur, een begrip in die jaren. Dit ging 15 jaar zo door tot de belastingdienst inzage wilde in de onkostenvergoedingen van de mensen, die kwamen spelen of dansen. Dat leverde een belastingaanslag op die zo hoog was dat Konfiluur per direct werd beëindigd.

Herman Albers, getekend door Jan Verbeek >

“Mag het ’n beetje scherper alsjeblieft?” is ook de titel van een boekje met als ondertitel “Beelden van Bouwkunde Delft”, dat uitkwam ter gelegenheid van het afscheid van Herman in 1991. Door zijn initiatief en inspanningen werd dit boekje een verzameling herinneringen van medewerkers van de faculteit: van hoogleraren tot de chef huishoudelijke dienst. Het geeft een mooi tijdsbeeld van de gebouwen, waarin de faculteit was gehuisvest, van de mensen die er werkten en van de sfeer die er hing. Herinneringen aan de democratisering, aan de eerste faculteitsraadsvergaderingen (one man, one vote!) en de ontwikkelingen van die democratie.

Ik hoop dat veel mensen door dit stukje met weemoed zullen terugdenken aan Herman Albers, een aimabele man en een bijzondere man op een bijzondere faculteit.

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Explore

“TU SHELL” Words & Illustrations Noortje Weenink

A recent publication by Vatan Hüzeir revealed the possible influence of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell and other fossil-energy companies on the curriculum of Rotterdam School of Management. Meanwhile, eight women of Fossil Free Culture NL were briefly jailed after protesting in the Van Gogh museum against the partnership of the Museum with Royal Dutch Shell. The commotion sheds light on two issues: the effect of the fossil fuel industry to all aspects of our society and the ethical principles of collaboration between educational institutions and private companies. How many Faustian deals has TU Delft made with private partners for research funding, in the name of sustainability?

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Oliedam: Rotterdam in the Oil Era, 1862–today The exhibition Oliedam, currently at display in the exhibition space of BK City, aims to create an understanding of the impact of petroleum production, in order to be able to “meaningfully imagine future built environments beyond oil.” It shows that oil, architecture and urban planning in the past 150 years cannot be seen as separate entities.

In Rotterdam, kilometres of storage tanks, refineries, pipelines, and other infrastructure span from the city to the tip of the port (Maasvlakte II). After World War II, the city itself was rebuild according to the “Basisplan” of Cornelis van Traa, with two major axes to accommodate the use of cars. The former Shell headquarters define the Hofplein, gas stations mark the cityscape and driving over the Van Brienenoord bridge is for many citizens the symbol of “coming home”—not to mention the many miles of invisible markers such as underground pipelines.

Carola Hein, Professor and Head of the Chair History of Architecture and Urban Planning and initiator of the exhibition states: “Port cities are key nodes in the flows of petroleum. […] They are paradigms of the petroleumscape.” By using Rotterdam, once the largest port in the world, as an example, Oliedam shows the full effects of the petroleum package: extraction, refining, storage, transportation and consumption in both the harbour and the city. Together with Amsterdam and Antwerp, the port of Rotterdam forms the “ARA-area”: the most important component of the European oil supply chain.1 But the idea to go “beyond oil” might be wishful thinking. Although the use of renewable energy sources is vital for a sustainable future, the oil prices have been declining while production still runs at full speed. Shell, the 7th biggest oil company in terms of production,2 has stated not to invest more in sustainable energy until 2020. Rather, Shell Bullshit Bingo, strongly inspired by climate action group “Students Act on Climate” >

companies have been trying successfully to come up with new, more efficient ways of extracting oil from the ground. And cities like Dubai—founded on petroleum profits—have been harvesting new benefits from oil in the form of tourism, leading to architectural investments in hotels, residential areas and infrastructure.3 Royal Dutch University It proves the incredible power and extent of the oil industry. Not only has it invaded the built environment, from the very start it has influenced all layers of our society and beyond. Hein: “The industry is sustained by intangible, international flows of finance and ideas. […] This confluence of politics, economics, and geography has produced a single, but layered landscape—a palimpsestic petroleumscape.”4 With its colonial roots, the oil industry has penetrated through politics, economics, culture, the environment and even education. Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), the international business school of Erasmus University Dutch Shell, has been accused of letting Royal Dutch Shell influence their curriculum, in the wake of Vatan Hüzeir, founder of interdisciplinary and sustainable think-thank Changerism.5 RSM fires back by calling the Hüzeir’s report “tendentious, biased and contains factual errors, and is not up to academic standards.” Students are not impressed either: they think it is only logical that a leading business school has ties to prominent actors in the industry. Their Dean, Steef van der Velde, reacts more subtly to the Changerism-report: “RSM’s mission is to be a force for positive change in the world, especially because we are convinced that we could and should play a more prominent role in solving the big challenges the world faces. The energy transition is one

WE SHOULD FOCUS ON EFFICIENCY

GAS IS AN IMPORTANT FOSSIL FUEL

of them. But you cannot realise this transition on short term. That is why it will not solve anything when universities cut the ties with fossil-energy companies.

On the contrary. We state that by collaborating one can make sure those companies minimise their footprint until the transition is a fact, and that the transition will go quicker because of it.” He also denies the claim that Shell influences the curriculum, calling the formulation in the contract “unfortunate”. “I want to emphasise that it is really not the case that a company can influence the curriculum. We are however, always in consultation with various parties to ensure the curriculum is and stays relevant.”6 The ties between Shell and Erasmus University are not an isolated incident. In 2011, TU Delft signed a five-year “preferred partnership contract” with Shell, and extended it last year. The contract is described as “a consequent next step in a long-lasting relationship between two strong drivers in the technology innovation space”, as TU Delft states in their press release.8 “We are proud to have such a strong scientific partner at our side, helping us to build knowhow and create the technologies we need to solve the various challenges facing our industry in helping safeguard the world’s energy supply.” Regarding the R&D activities between Shell and the university, they note three areas, all are focused on the search for efficient ways to extract more gas and oil from existing reservoirs, instead of the transition to renewable energy.9 Shell Society It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the most profitable Dutch company has a tremendous influence in the Netherlands. It extends beyond just investing money in research of which the results may or may not be affected. Shell has had a questionable history from the

SHELL INVESTS IN RENEWABLES

SHELL IS A RESPONSIBLE COMPANY

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beginning. Its predecessor, the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, was founded over oil found in the Dutch East Indies (now known as Indonesia), the largest of the Dutch colonies. The pride the Dutch still take in their “VOC-mentality”—referring to the mercantilist culture it maintained since the rise of the Dutch East India Company—resonates in the treatment of Shell as a Dutch treasure. Rather than condoning the colonisation and exploitation, former prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende praised the VOC numerous times for its “decisiveness and courage”.10 In that line of thought it is only logical that the Dutch take pride in having founded the now fifth biggest private company in the world, however much they might pollute.11 But the case of RSM shows that the integrity of universities might be on the line.

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“Sustainable” Shell Shell’s CEO, Ben van Beurden, has stated that the hardest thing about leading a big energy company was being “recognised as a valuable partner in the discussion on how to combat climate change while ensuring that people have access to the energy they need.” And indeed, there would be a case for partnering up with Shell, if the company had facts to back up their sustainable objectives. Unfortunately, that is not the situation. Shell invests less than 1% in climate friendly techniques. This, however, does not mean that these investments are actually sustainable.

Even though Shell tries to sell it that way, the phrases “climate friendly”, “sustainable” and “green” are not interchangeable. According to Jelmer Mommers, journalist for The Correspondent, the words “sustainable” and “green” refer to renewable energy sources or clean fuels that do not emit CO2 at all.

“Climate friendly”, however, refers to techniques that help to reduce CO2, or to fuels that emit a relatively

GAS IS CLEAN

SHELL HAS A STRONG SUSTAINABILITY VISION

low amount of CO2 in comparison to other fuels.13 So Shell’s “climate friendly” investments are not that sustainable at all.

Shell’s Footprint Even if Shell miraculously would decide to start investing in truly sustainable energy sources, actions speak louder than words. And the company’s actions are screaming. For example, Shell has been drilling crude oil in Curacao’s Willemstad since 1918. It brought some good, because during the Second World War, the oil from Curacao and Aruba accounted for 80% of the aviation fuel of the Allied Forces. But there was a catch: the process of making refined products from crude oil leaves asphalt as a residue. Shell didn’t know what to do with its 1.5 million tonnes of waste product, and decided to “store” it in the nearby Scottegat bay. Additionally, 50,000 cubic metres of acid tars and other chemical waste were pumped into the euphemistically named “Asphalt Lake”. And at a deserted industrial area close to the “lake” 450 cubic metres of asbestos lay in open air. In 1985, after years of losses, Shell sold the ISLA-refinery in Willemstad and its three assets “with all its benefits and burdens” to the Netherlands Antilles, for the symbolic amount of one guilder per company. It saved ISLA-employees from being fired, but it also cleared Shell from any juridical responsibilities. Two years ago, the asbestos was finally removed, but the lake is still as black as ever.15,16 The ISLA-refinery is now being leased to China for 40 years. BK Students can explore this in the studio “Beyond Oil Goes Curaçao”.

A more recent example is the environmental disaster of the Niger Delta, where Shell established its business in 1958. Years of oil spills and violations have polluted the area in the southeast of Nigeria, devastating

SHELL SUPPLIES WHAT IS DEMANDED

RENEWABLES ARE EXPENSIVE

communities and ecosystems. In 2011, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) published an environmental assessment of Oginoland, where oil spills happened “with alarming regularity”. Shell accepted the findings, but years later the company has still failed to comply with the recommendations to clean up the polluted sites.

To give you a clue: in 2015 “Royal Dutch Shell and the Italian multinational oil giant ENI admitted to more than 550 oil spills in the Niger Delta, last year. […] By contrast, on average, there were only 10 spills a year across the whole of Europe between 1971 and 2011.”17 In 2015, Shell agreed to a settlement of £55 million (€64 million) to Bodo farmers and fishers following oil spills in 2008 and 2009, while initially offering them £4,000. “When a company has to pay £55 million for two oil spills it originally tried to pass off as minor, it should raise serious questions for investors about the hidden liabilities Shell may be carrying in the Niger Delta”, said Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty International’s Global Issues Director.

That same year, Bille and Ogale communities living in the area took on a new case regarding the Niger Delta to a UK High Court. The court ruled in January this year that Shell cannot account for the actions of its Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. The communities are expected to appeal, but for now, once again, Shell dodges responsibility.18,19 And let’s not forget their plan to drill in the Alaskan Arctic. Whereas climate scientists, world leaders and citizens are worrying about the ice cap melting, Shell recognised it as a convenient circumstance. Only when they realised it wasn’t profitable, they decided to stop drilling for gas and oil “for the foreseeable future”.20 Divest!

All this leaves is to question TU Delft and other universities of their responsibility in the debate. Does

the goal, a sustainable future, really justify or even require the means of collaborating with one of the biggest polluters in the world? Do you really want to advertise the name of a company that violates human rights and ignores environmental laws on a daily basis on our winning solar car, thus contributing to the concept that Shell is sustainably sound? Is it socially sensible to use the money from a—to say the least— questionable business to fund research, sometimes not even green, but merely climate friendly? Is it a “better than nothing” situation, or should they strive for more?

Many people seem to believe the latter. Since 2011, numerous student groups have started to demand that their administrations divest from the fossil fuel industry and invest in clear energy and communities most impacted by climate change. Grassroots organisations of the fossil fuel divestment movement such as 350.org, Students Act on Climate, Fossil Free Culture and Fossil Free Universities have been growing, and also set foot in the Netherlands.

The movement combines moral and financial arguments to urge investors to change their policies.

And with success: in 2015, the movement was reportedly the fastest growing divestment movement in history.21 The moral arguments are based on the idea that, in order to meet the international targets to keep global warming below a rise of 2 degrees Celsius, between two-thirds and four-fifths of fossil fuels need to remain in the ground. As we have seen with Shell, fossil fuel companies are not exactly eager to meet this target.

The second is the financial argument. The fossil fuel divestment movement uses the power that money has against the industry: if international agreements on climate change are met, investments in the petroleum industry will become worthless.

Fossil Free TU Delft has been calling for a strategic

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FYI fossil fuel divestment plan for our university to become independent of the fossil fuel industry. In a letter to the Operational Committee, the group has urged TU Delft to downsize fossil fuel-related studies and courses, to criticise their partnerships with corporations, and to formulate a comprehensive plan to make the campus energy-neutral and circular. On a smaller scale, the group has—so far unsuccessfully—started a petition for the university to switch from ING, the leading Dutch bank to invest in fossil fuels, to a more sustainable bank.

Realistically, if we do not change the neoliberal culture we encounter, short-term profit will probably keep winning. We have seen time and time again that “changing a structure from the inside out”, especially regarding the combat with climate change, does not work.22 And indeed, it seems that our university values their friendship with the fossil fuel industry over the worries of students.

Let this be a warning: if we continue this path, TU Delft’s slogan Challenging the Future might soon become the reality we wished we never dreamed of.

This is the long version of this article. A shorter version can be found in the printed magazine. Sources are available at page 38.

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NEXT MONTH 09 What have students of our faculty been up to the past year? What future did you imagine? Were there any visible trends in your projects? Similarities in visualisation, topics or goals?

Explore and rethink your own works with us!

SOURCES Unforgetting Women Architects pages 18–21

Where Have All the Names Gone pages 26–27

Damnatio memoriae. (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2017 from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_memoriae 2,3 Colomina, B. Collaborations: The Private Life of Modern Architecture, in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 1999. 58(3). p. 462-471 4 Stratigakos, D. (2016, April). Unforgetting Women Architects: From the Pritzker. 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2017 from www.placesjournal.org/article/unforgettingwomen-architects-from-the-pritzker-to-wikipedia/ 5 More information about the event “Unforgetting Women Architects” in: https://collectie.hetnieuweinstituut.nl/en/activities/ unforgetting-women-architects 6 Blahut, C. (2017, February). Denise Scott Brown Wins Jane Drew Prize. Retrieved May 20, 2017 from www.architectmagazine.com/design/denise-scott-brownwins-jane-drew-prize_o

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Carter, E. and J. Donald, Space and place: theories of identity and location. 1993: Lawrence & Wishart Ltd. 2 Tuan, Y.-F., Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. Annals of the Association of American geographers, 1991. 81(4): p. 684-696.

3 Stadsarchief Rotterdam. Straatnamen Overzicht.

Retrieved May 10, 2017, from http://www.stadsarchief. rotterdam.nl/straatnamen-overzicht 4 Kostanski, L., 15. Duel-Names: How toponyms (placenames) can represent hegemonic histories and alternative narratives1. Indigenous and Minority Placenames, 2014: p. 273.

5, 6 De stadsmuur van Delft en haar acht stadspoorten. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2017, from http://www.wikidelft. nl/index.php?title=De_stadsmuur_van_Delft_en_haar_ acht_stadspoorten

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“TU Shell” pages 32–36 Hein, C. (2016). Analyzing the Palimpsestic Petroleumscape of Rotterdam. Retrieved May 17, 2017 from https://globalurbanhistory.com/2016/09/28/ analyzing-the-palimpsestic-petroleumscape-of-rotterdam/ 2 Trending Top Most (2017). Top 10 Largest Oil and Gas Companies in the World. Retrieved May 17, 2017 from http://www.trendingtopmost.com/worlds-popular-list-top-10/2017-2018-2019-2020-2021/business/ largest-oil-gas-companies-world-revenue-market-cap/ 3 Tilman, H. (2016). Oliedam belicht impact olie op architectuur. Retrieved May 20, 2017 from http:// www.dearchitect.nl/architectuur/blog/2016/8/ oliedam-belicht-impact-olie-op-architectuur-101108001 4 Hein, C. (2016). Port Cities: Nodes in the Global Petroleumscape between Sea and Land. Retrieved May 20, 2017 from http://technosphere-magazine. hkw.de/article1/a533bca0-08ba-11e7b921-a58643285390 5 Hüzeir, V. Fraser, G.K. (2017). A Pipeline of Ideas: How the Rotterdam School of Management facilitates climate change by collaborating with the fossil fuel industry. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Changerism.

6 Ficheroux, T. (2017). Decaan RSM: ‘Banden met Shell doorsnijden lost niets op. Integendeel.’

Retrieved May 20, 2017 from https://www. erasmusmagazine.nl/2017/05/24/decaan-rsm-banden-met-shell-doorsnijden-lost-niets-op-integendeel/ 7 Konter, P. (2012-13). Gezamenlijke technologie.

Shell Venster (collection of articles from volumes 2012–2013). Retrieved May 22, 2017 from http:// content.yudu.com/A256xq/svtech2013/resources/7. htm 8 Webredactie M&C (2011). Shell and Delft University of Technology seal a preferred partnership agreement.

Retrieved May 19, 2017 from http://www.citg.tudelft. nl/en/current/latest-news/article/detail/

da-van-de-tu-delft/33186 10 VOC-mentaliteit. (2017). Retrieved May 24, 2017, from https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/VOC-mentaliteit 11 Fortune (n.d.). Global 500. Retrieved May 24, 2017 from http://beta.fortune.com/global500/ 12 More information here: https://follow-this.org/en/ 13 Mommers, J. (2017). De pr-praatjes van Shell zijn een stuk groener dan de investeringen. Retrieved May 27, 2017 from https://decorrespondent.nl/6082/ de-pr-praatjes-van-shell-zijn-een-stuk-groener-dan-deinvesteringen/ 15 Antilliaans Dagblad (2015). Omvang asbest ISLA onbekend. Retrieved May 27, 2017 from http:// antilliaansdagblad.com/index.php/ nieuws-menu/11999-omvang-asbest-isla-onbekend 16 Gerritsen, J. (1996). Asfaltmeer treurig overblijfsel op Curaçao. Retrieved May 27, 2017 from https:// www.nrc.nl/nieuws/1996/03/19/asfaltmeer-treurig-overblijfsel-op-curacao-7303325-a82098 17 Amnesty International (2015). Nigeria: Hundreds of oil spills continue to blight Niger Delta. Retrieved May 26, 2017 from amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/03/ hundreds-of-oil-spills-continue-to-blight-niger-delta/ 18 Amnesty International (2017). UK: Shell ruling gives green light for corporations to profit from abuses overseas. Retrieved May 26, 2017 from https://www. amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/01/uk-shell-rulinggives-green-light-for-corporations-to-profit-from-abuses-overseas/ 19 Tickel, O. (2016). 53,000 Nigerian oil spill victims press new Shell lawsuits. Retrieved May 26, 2017 from http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_ round_up/2987329/53000_nigerian_oil_spill_victims_press_new_shell_lawsuits.html 20 Macalister, T. (2015). Shell abandons Alaska Arctic drilling. Retrieved May 26, 2017 from https://www. theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/28/shell-ceasesalaska-arctic-drilling-exploratory-well-oil-gas-disappoints 21 Vaughan, A. (2014). Fossil fuel divestment: a brief history. Retrieved May 17, 2017 from https://www.

shell-en-de-technische-universiteit-delft-tekenen-een-preferred-partnership-overeenkomst/ 9 Our colleagues at Delta explore the partnership more in depth at: http://delta.tudelft.nl/artikel/ bepaalt-de-fossiele-industrie-de-onderzoeksagen-

theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/08/ fossil-fuel-divestment-a-brief-history 22 Klein, N. (2014). This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. New York: Simon & Schuster.

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Bnieuws VOLUME 50 EDITION 08